Leprechaun Tales - Hardcover

Yvonne Carroll teaches at a Dublin primary school

Gr 2-5-Six Irish folktales explore the cunning, magical powers of the vengeful and mischievous "little people." In each story, leprechauns and fairies outwit and punish humans who encroach on their territory. In "The Crock of Gold," Tom finds a leprechaun and will not put him down until he surrenders a pot of gold. The elf admits that the gold is buried under a bush and suggests that the boy mark it with his handkerchief before running home to get a shovel. When the boy returns, all the bushes are marked by handkerchiefs. In "The Sidhe," when Sean captures a leprechaun and demands gold, the wee little man takes him to a bush and sticks his arm into a beehive. Several of the stories feature individuals who are cursed because they trespass into fairy territory. In "Niamh," a girl who listens to fairy music vanishes for 20 years. When Eithne trespasses in "The Fairy Lios" and picks some flowers, she finds stinging nettles in her bed that night. In "The New House," a family builds on land where fairy people live, and the new house is destroyed. Each of the legends reflects how spiteful the little people can be when crossed. Flat, cartoon, color illustrations with distorted depictions of people accompany the stories, many of which are available in better-written collections. All in all, this is an undistinguished work.

Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville Public Schools, Parlin, NJ

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